2022 Georgia Code
Title 43 - Professions and Businesses
Chapter 11 - Dentists, Dental Hygienists, and Dental Assistants
Article 1 - General Provisions
§ 43-11-21. Conscious Sedation

1. No dentist licensed and practicing in the State of Georgia shall administer either single or multiple pharmacologic agents by oral, parenteral, enteral, transdermal, or transmucosal route that renders a patient to a state of conscious sedation as defined in Code Section 43-11-1, unless such dentist has been issued a permit by the board under the conditions specified therefor in this Code section. The dentist shall ensure that the pharmacologic agents and methods used to administer such agents shall include a margin of safety so that loss of consciousness of the patient is unlikely. This Code section shall not restrict the use of nitrous oxide or pharmacological agents that do not render a patient to a state of conscious sedation. Such permit shall be subject to biennial renewal at the time the dentist is required to renew that dentist’s license to practice dentistry. It shall be the responsibility of the dentist to provide such information as the board may require and to pay the separate initial issuance and renewal fees for the permit as may be established by the board.
2. No dentist shall be issued a permit under this Code section unless the board has received satisfactory evidence that such dentist:
   1. Has received formal training in the use of conscious sedation at an institution accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association (ADA), its successor agency, or other board approved organization and is certified by such organization as competent in the administration of pharmacologic agents for conscious sedation and the handling of emergencies relating to conscious sedation. Such certification shall specify the type, number of hours, and length of training. The minimum didactic hours, patient contact hours, and number of patients sedated under supervision shall be established by rule or regulation of the board;
   2. Utilizes a properly equipped facility for the administration of conscious sedation, including physical plant and equipment, which has been evaluated and certified by an on-site examination; and
   3. Has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the board or any designee thereof proficiency in administering sedative techniques in the dentist’s office on a patient or patients in a safe and effective manner.
3. In enforcing the provisions of this Code section, the board is authorized to designate qualified persons to perform the on-site examinations and is further authorized to provide by rule or regulation for standards for physical plant, equipment, and personnel to be utilized in the induction of conscious sedation.
4. The board or its appointed designee may, upon reasonable notice, make on-site inspections of the facility, equipment, and personnel of a dentist issued a permit under this Code section to determine if the standards of paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of this Code section are being maintained.
5. 1. The board may, upon proper application, grant a provisional permit to administer conscious sedation to any dentist who meets the requirements of paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section.
   2. A provisional permit issued under this subsection shall expire six months after its issuance or upon the board’s determination by site visit that the requirements of paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (b) of this Code section have not been met, whichever occurs earlier. The provisional permit may be renewed once, at the discretion of the board, for a period not to exceed six months following the original expiration date.
6. A dentist holding a current, valid permit to administer general anesthesia as provided in this chapter shall not be required to obtain a permit under this Code section in order to administer conscious sedation.
7. A permit issued under this Code section may be revoked or not renewed if the board determines that the dentist holding such permit no longer meets any requirement of subsection (b) of this Code section. The board shall provide notice and opportunity for hearing under Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,” in any case in which it revokes or refuses to renew a permit, provided that summary action regarding such permit shall be authorized under Code Section 50-13-18.
8. 1. Any person who administers conscious sedation in this state in a dental facility or during the practice of dentistry in a medispa, without a license to practice dentistry from the board, shall be deemed to be engaged in the unlawful practice of dentistry and subject to the provisions of subsection (e) of Code Section 43-11-2 and Code Section 43-11-50. As used in this paragraph, the term “medispa” means a facility that offers a range of services for the purpose of improving an individual’s well-being or appearance, including medical and surgical procedures such as liposuction, laser procedures, intense pulsed light, and injection of cosmetic filling agents and neurotoxins, in a nontraditional setting.
   2. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent a physician licensed in this state from administering conscious sedation or to deem a physician licensed in this state to be engaged in the unlawful practice of dentistry.
   3. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to expand the scope of the practice of dentistry.
9. 1. This Code section shall not prohibit a person who is duly licensed to practice medicine in this state and who is a member of the anesthesiology staff of an institution classified as a hospital and issued a permit as an institution under Code Section 31-7-1 from administering conscious sedation in a dental facility, except that such anesthesiologist shall remain on the premises of the dental facility until any patient given conscious sedation by such anesthesiologist is stabilized and has regained consciousness.
   2. This Code section shall not prohibit a person who is duly licensed as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in this state from administering conscious sedation in a dental facility nor deem a certified registered nurse anesthetist to be engaged in the unlawful practice of dentistry, provided that such sedation is administered under the direction and responsibility of a dentist duly permitted under this Code section and that such nurse anesthetist shall remain on the premises of the dental facility until any patient given conscious sedation by such nurse anesthetist is stabilized and has regained consciousness.
   3. This Code section shall not prohibit a person who is duly licensed as a physician assistant in this state who has completed an anesthesiologist assistant program approved by the Georgia Composite Medical Board from administering conscious sedation nor deem such physician assistant to be engaged in the unlawful practice of dentistry, pursuant to their job description as approved by the Georgia Composite Medical Board, provided that such sedation is administered under the direction and responsibility of an anesthesiologist permitted under this Code section.

History. Code 1981, § 43-11-21 , enacted by Ga. L. 1987, p. 932, § 3; Ga. L. 1994, p. 97, § 43; Ga. L. 1998, p. 179, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 720, § 3; Ga. L. 2021, p. 749, § 1/SB 5.

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added subsection (h); redesignated former subsection (h) as present subsection (i); inserted “nor deem a certified registered nurse anesthetist to be engaged in the unlawful practice of dentistry” in the middle of paragraph (i)(2); and added paragraph (i)(3).

Cross references.

Certified registered nurse anesthetists, § 43-26-11.1 .

Editor’s notes.

Ga. L. 1987, p. 932, § 3, effective July 1, 1987, repealed the former Code section and enacted the current Code section. The former Code section, concerning general anesthesia, was based on Ga. L. 1981, p. 726, § 1. For present provisions concerning general anesthesia, see Code Section 43-11-21.1.

Administrative rules and regulations.

Sedation permits, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Georgia Board of Dentistry, Chapter 150-13.